Dallas City Council Member Cara Mendelsohn asked residents in a post on X to weigh in on what the City’s budget priorities should be for the next fiscal year.
The post includes a link to a survey that includes seven questions about policy and service issues, public safety, the environment, quality of life, economic development, and housing. The survey also asks residents to explain what matters most to them and whether they prefer to lower, raise, or maintain the City’s tax rate of $0.7357.
As reported by The Dallas Express, the city council adopted the rate in September. It’s expected to increase the property taxes collected by the City by $120 million, despite the fact the rate is one cent lower than the previous year. The budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year is $4.6 billion.
During the same meeting, Mendelsohn proposed an amendment that would reduce the property tax rate by 5.33 cents, having previously supported a “no new revenue” property tax rate of $0.6813, but it was not approved.
“Telling people you voted for a tax rate deduction and sending them a higher bill is misleading to the residents,” she said. “They’re smart enough to understand their value has gone way up. The rate needs to go way down, or they’re going to pay a lot more.”
Mayor Eric Johnson issued a statement explaining why he voted against the budget.
“In an environment of such economic uncertainty for our residents and businesses, with inflation and interest rates being where they are, I simply could not vote for a budget that is the largest in the history of the city and that is paid for by raising taxes on our residents and businesses,” he said.
The budget priorities survey is available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Mandarin and can be accessed through July.
